This article originally appeared in The Hub.
By Michael Rupert Binnion, October 1, 2025
Western frustrations are rising. Albertans, like many across the Prairies, feel Ottawa’s hand tightening on our economy, our resources, and our future. Too often, that frustration is dismissed as anger—as if Alberta were a sulky teenager in Confederation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
What Alberta seeks today is not revolution. It is not rupture, but continuity. It is the assertion of a long-standing Canadian principle: responsible government.
Canada’s own evolution
Canada itself did not become independent overnight. Our sovereignty was not won with muskets at Lexington or barricades in Paris. We earned it step by step, through the gradual extension of responsible self-government.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763, the rebellions of 1837–38, Confederation in 1867, the Statute of Westminster in 1931, and the patriation of the Constitution in 1982—all were vital stages in Canada’s evolution. At each, Canadians demonstrated they could govern themselves responsibly, and with political will, independence followed.
As I argued in my Macdonald-Laurier Institute paper How the West Wins: Alberta’s legal pathway to greater power within Canada, these milestones are not only historical markers but constitutional doctrine. The Supreme Court, in the 1998 Reference re Secession of Quebec, affirmed that structural change in Canada arises from responsible government backed by political will. That principle applies equally to provinces.
Alberta’s case
The Constitution already grants Alberta authority over resources, health care, education, direct taxation, pensions, policing, and immigration. Quebec exercises many of these powers already, collecting its own taxes, running its own pension plan, and negotiating immigration agreements. Alberta has every right to do the same.
Yet Ottawa increasingly undermines this balance. Conditional transfers dictate health spending. Environmental rules intrude on provincial resource management. The federal carbon tax was upheld under the “peace, order, and good government” clause, stretching federal power into areas once clearly provincial. As Justice Russell Brown warned in dissent, this risks eroding Canada’s federal compact.
For Alberta, this concern is not hypothetical. Federal overreach has delayed or cancelled billions of dollars in resource development projects. Opportunities slip away and investments stall as regulatory authority concentrates in Ottawa rather than in Edmonton. The economic burden is undeniable, as are the political consequences.
Alberta is not asking for special treatment. It is asking to be governed by the Constitution as written.
Putting principles into practice
Alberta has already begun to take steps to secure its sovereignty. The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act challenges federal overreach. The Provincial Priorities Act requires local institutions to answer first to Albertans. Citizen-driven referenda return important decisions to the people themselves. And the Alberta Next Panel invites Albertans to debate pensions, policing, tax collection, and other pressing issues. These citizen-led discussions are not mere political theatre; they are the very kind of institutional maturity that Canada’s constitutional tradition rewards.
In my MLI paper, I stressed that provinces build legitimacy by exercising their powers first, then negotiating structural reform from a position of demonstrated capacity. Alberta is doing exactly that. Establishing a provincial pension plan, creating an Alberta Revenue Agency, or negotiating bilateral immigration accords—these are not acts of defiance. They are the lawful exercise of powers already granted by the Constitution. They are responsible government in action.
The path forward
Canada has always accepted asymmetry in the federation. Quebec operates under distinct cultural and legal frameworks. Indigenous governments negotiate self-government agreements. Newfoundland entered Confederation in 1949 on unique terms. Alberta’s call for greater autonomy fits squarely into that Canadian tradition.
Our demand is not for revolution but for recognition. Recognition that autonomy within Confederation is constitutionally protected. Recognition that federalism depends on provinces exercising the powers they already have. Recognition that the West is not seeking to walk away, but to stand up.
The precedent is clear. The doctrine is alive. The right is ours.
As Canada governed its independence into being, so too can Alberta govern its autonomy into being. This is not rebellion. This is responsible government. And the time is now.
Michael Rupert Binnion is a member of the Alberta Next Panel, a forum exploring Alberta’s future within Canada. The CEO and founding shareholder of Questerre Energy and the Modern Miracle Network, Binnion recently published a paper, How the West wins: Alberta’s legal pathway to greater power within Canada, with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
